Cricket Bat 1770s

This Cricket Bat is from the 1770s, when they were curved bats, with most of their weight concentrated towards the bottom of the bat. This type of early cricket bat was best suited for playing under-arm “grubber” bowling which was the norm until the 1770s. Today Cricket is the world’s second most popular spectator sport after football or soccer.

The sport of cricket started in the late 16th century, originally from south-east England, it became England’s national sport in the 18th century. The first reference to cricket being played as an adult sport was in 1611 when two men were prosecuted for playing cricket on Sunday instead of going to church. The original form of bowling was to roll the ball along the ground as in bowls, this was superseded sometime after 1760 when bowlers began to pitch the ball.